ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS CONTEST!

[SaveRun]

Have you had your own animal encounter on a run? If so, we want to hear about it.

Add to the discussion below and we’ll give away $250 worth of gear or a 1 year PRO membership (= 50% off) to the most-viewed/top-rated photo, video or story. Deadline is June 15, so act fast.

[Amy S.]

I was chased by three male deer after a run! Who knew deer went after people?

[Diana McAlister]

Cows, Deers and Pit Bulls and a nice Bite in the Butt

Running around in rural North Carolina is always a treat.doc

[cbdbree]

Diana, your mother asked us to vote so I am voting for you. I am sorry you got bitten, thank God it wasn't worse.
Colleen Dorian

[Jack Lelli]

Hi Diana, it's Jack formerly from NS. Sorry for your injury. Nice of them to refuse to answer the door. Shows the kind of class people who own pit bulls have. Mace might be a nice thing to carry on your runs.

[Amy Gravel]

Hey Diana,
The trials and tribulations of being an avid athlete! Hope his bark wasn't as big as his bite...Good luck with the entry, Amy

[Elaine Festa]

Hi Diana,

We are friends of your mom and dad! We met in Aruba several years ago and we will see them there again this summer. We always enjoy their company. We feel like we know you and your family. Your daughter is beautiful. So sorry about the bite (ouch) you always have our support and prayers! Keep up the great work!

Fondly, Elaine & Joe Festa, Revere, MA

[jennifer Morrison]

Oh my goodness! What a story.

[Karin Raymond]

Hi Diana,

I glad everything turned out okay. Good Luck with the race

Karin

[Hillary S.]

I was abt 6 weeks away from the NYC Marathon when I went on vacation to Kenya. I had 2 long runs to go but figured, Kenya, what better place to train! My shorter runs through Nairobi were uneventful - but unfortunately my 18 mile training run fell right during our safari. I didn't even consider it in Samburu, but finally in the Masai Mara, I realized I absolutely had to get those miles in. We were on safari at sunrise/sunset, so my only option was to run in the scorching sun just after lunchtime. Because our camp was right in the middle of the game park, one of the Masai men agreed to run with me...just in case. He showed up with no hat, no glasses, no water - and wearing cargo shorts, lace-up leather loafers, and no socks. I wore my pristine running sneakers, wicking fabrics, and all the finest in gear. None of which helped me a few minutes into this uphill run at 9000 feet altitude. My new friend whizzed passed me and showed no signs of being tested. I on the other hand, stopped to catch my breath for the first out of about 20 times during the run (which I had now demoted to 6 miles). While suffering through a water break, my friend let me know that he spent his entire childhood walking this same path to school - 9 miles up in the am, and 9 miles back down in the afternoon with all his books. So, he said, I shouldn't feel too badly about being comparatively out of shape. As I considered that, looking out into the game park where the wildebeest and zebras were slowly making their way through the Great Migration, I appreciated that these are the experiences one can only dream of having as a runner. And it was the only image I needed on marathon day.

[Ean Jackson]

Did you know that whales fart? Well, they must.

At first I though it was Carlos. (He's the pirate standing next to me in the blue Club Fat Ass t-shirt.) The evening before our attempt at running the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, the boys went out to Buffy's Pub in Sooke, BC and we stuffed our faces. Carlos had a humungous plate of liver and onions and a couple of pale ales. Add 12 hours, pile on a bunch of gels, some bagel and some jalapeno beef jerky and you have all of the ingredients for a bad case of gas. He was a natural... but he wasn't the skunk.

I didn't think it could be Berglind. She's such a small woman and this was a powerful smell. Besides, I've been told that women don't fart, so it couldn't be her.
True, a skunk smells it's own smell first and I have been known to generate some brutal methane, but this time it wasn't me, either.

So there we were: Berglind, Carlos and me in the middle of nowhere on a rocky outcropping on Sombrio Point with trees behind us and the Pacific Ocean in front of us, and one bad smell circulating around us. Then we saw the whales. Three of them, in fact. We could almost reach out and touch them, they were so close to us. You can see 2 of them in the photo if you look closely.

What an amazing sight it was to behold. Certainly the highlight of my running this year!

So now that the source of the foul wind has been identified, can anyone clarify which orifice a whale farts from?

[Laura]

There is a park where I used to run in St. Louis that had a very nice path that went through a wooded area. I had to make sure that I got my runs in before dark because around dusk, the animals would come out. I liked seeing deer in the clearings and even saw an owl once, but the problem was that around twilight the path would start to become covered with frogs (not just the occasional frog...many many frogs)! It took quite a bit of effort not to step on one of them :)

[Matthew Fideler]

Last Tuesday (July 13th) I was on an 11 miler, at the 5 mile mark when I was at the farthest point from my house guess what I seen... A Mountain Lion!!! Only about 75 meters in front of me!! It came running out of the ditch and ran across the road in front of me!! Needless to say, my heart rate went through the roof!! LOL